"are they worth the trouble?" -> depends - which trouble?"sounding good?" -> yes - sounding good."spare parts readily available?" -> the consoles are around 30 years old - you don't really think philps has a department for holding spare-parts for the next 100 years? from time to time parts show up on ebay, but i think these ldc-desks were not built in very high quantities."reliable?" - depends.

"spare parts readily available?" -> the consoles are around 30 years old - you don't really think philps has a department for holding spare-parts for the next 100 years? from time to time parts show up on ebay, but i think these ldc-desks were not built in very high quantities.

i certainly don't think philips keeps spare parts in stock, but generic parts such as pots, transistors etc. can be ordered with electronic suppliers, given they are still available... that was my question.

sonicdom wrote:the trouble of keeping them working... as with any old analog bugger.

sonicdom wrote:"spare parts readily available?" -> the consoles are around 30 years old - you don't really think philps has a department for holding spare-parts for the next 100 years? from time to time parts show up on ebay, but i think these ldc-desks were not built in very high quantities.

not easy to answer, i think that depends on your demands and also your skills to service it yourself. the utmost problem is the plastic the module's frontpanels are based on. due to its age it falls apart at the slightest touch... no real problem in normal use, but whenever you need to take out a module chances are good that parts break off.

the faders are konstantin danner made, like on old neumann-consoles, not too easy to get replacements, and not my most favoured faders. they do their job well if they are o.k., but need a bit of care too.

the pots are more of a problem. the quality is very good, but they tend to stick and get stiff. there are different versions used, some with push-pull-switches which is also a possible cause of risk. i didn't find out the manufacturer yet. i think they must have been expensive ones, but no idea about replacements. they can be cleaned and lubrified though.

on the other hand it is a very nice and good sounding console. the eq is quite limited but what it does sounds very good. i do service on one from time to time. it's no fun to solder on the bus-pcb's since you have to work overhead and the traces are not easy to reach. i needed to do so when i modded the desk bringing the inserts to a patchbay. it had not one audio connector when client bought it. everything was solder to these blocks - in german - under the desk. could be different on other desks. it's fun you can raise up the table for service. helps a bit.

ah and for the modules: there were differnt versions, so they are not 1:1-replaceable. so if you get hold of replacement modules you should take care about this. and on the modules they have small sub-modules. these have a) discrete op-amps or b) 5534 op-amps on them. iirc these can be exchanged without modifications. another sub-module carries the voltage-regulator.

ah and the one i know is very heavy. very very heavy.

so all in all: you must be very much into the desk to buy one and/or it should be very cheap to make it worth the hassle. it is not too versatile but what it does it does very good. it's no easy decision if to buy one or not and depends on several things. if it's in good shape, cheap and serves your needs you should go for it. some electronic skills come in handy... oh and make sure you get the complete manual with it!

Oh that coud be misleading - the pic is not from the desk, it's just to show how these things look like - in german they are called "lötigel" (solder-hedghog?). I've seen pics of LDC15 or 25 that came complete with XLR's, so it's not necessarily with these lötigels.

But anyway - as I mentioned: If they are in good shape they can be nice consoles but I think at 4k you''ll expect something else these days. Even Studers show up in that price-range.